The OOP and design patterns movement

Object-oriented programming (OOP) has reached a critical mass, thanks to proliferation of good C++ compilers in the early nineties. The programmers of the early 1990s often struggled to understand OOP and how to effectively use it in large projects. Without a viral medium such as the internet, it was quite a struggle. Early adopters published technical reports, wrote in periodicals/journals, and conducted seminars to popularize OOP techniques. Magazines such as Dr. Dobb's Journal and C++ Report used to carry columns featuring OOP.

There was a need to transfer the wisdom of experts to the ever-increasing programming community, but this knowledge propagation was not happening. The legendary German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss remarked, always learn from the masters. Even though Gauss had mathematics in mind, his statement is true for any non-trivial human endeavor. However, previously, masters of OOP technique were few, and the apprenticeship model...